Freeport City Council OKs pay hikes for nonbargaining workers

FREEPORT — The Freeport City Council unanimously approved a 2.5 percent wage increase for the city’s nonbargaining employees and department directors for fiscal 2013-14 on Monday.

By Nick Crow

Journal Standard

By Nick Crow

Posted Sep. 11, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Sep 11, 2013 at 10:01 AM

By Nick Crow

Posted Sep. 11, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Sep 11, 2013 at 10:01 AM

FREEPORT — The Freeport City Council unanimously approved a 2.5 percent wage increase for the city’s nonbargaining employees and department directors for fiscal 2013-14 on Monday.

“Bargaining employees have their rates decided by negotiation,” said Duane Price, the city accountant. “They were given a contract on May 1. For nonunion employees, the council has to pass a separate ordinance to approve their pay raise.”

The cost-of-living increase was part of the year’s appropriation ordinance so approving the raises was merely a formality, Price said.

“The council had already approved it in the budget,” Price said. “This was the logical next step.”

Price said the raises, given to positions such as corporation counsel and the police and fire chiefs, will cost an additional $52,000 for this fiscal year.

“We decided that this was fair and equitable,” said 2nd Ward Ald. Shawn Boldt. “At this point certainly we’re still in a cash-poor spot but people at City Hall are working hard and diligently and we wanted to do what’s right to take care of them.”

Boldt said he knows some Freeport residents haven’t received any raises their own jobs in many years and finds that to be “unfortunate.”

“We need to take care of the people we do have working for the city,” Boldt said. “This is for the nonbargaining people that don’t have a union fighting for them. They’ve taken it in the shorts on quite a few occasions in the past.”

Price said wage increases weren’t given to both union and nonbargaining employees during fiscal 2010-11 and 2011-12 because of the poor state of the economy. He added that 50.6 percent of this year’s budget is planned to pay salaries. That amount is up from the 50 percent that was planned for the 2012-13 budget. Both years are down from prior budgets; 2011-12 had 51.1 percent spent for wages, 2010-11 was 53 percent, 2009-10 was 54.7 percent, 2008-09 was 54 percent and 2007-08 was 54.4 percent.

Price said the drop in the amount of money in the budget used toward payroll isn’t a reflection on budget changes as much as it is of staff reductions and those leaving not being replaced.